Comprehensively beaten by India at the MCG to concede a Test series lead, Australia skipper Tim Paine Sunday admitted his batsmen failed to cope with the high quality opposition bowling attack in the absence of banned Steve Smith and David Warner.

India beat Australia by 137 runs in the third Test to go 2-1 up in the four-match series and take giant strides towards winning their first ever Test series on Australian soil in seven decades. But Paine sought to explain the defeat to the team's inexperience in the absence of Smith and Warner who were banned, along with Cameron Bancroft, for their involvement in the ball-tampering scandal in the Cape Town Test earlier this year. Bancroft's ban period ended on Saturday while Smith and Warner will have to wait till March end.